Neil Young Sparks an Electric Car Revolution

Neil Young has never been shy about his love of Big Old American Cars. There on his album covers, in his garage, and he's even written songs about them. . But you always had to wonder how that jibbed with his outspoken environmental views. Wonder no longer. Young has recently been touting a new venture known as LincVolt. The media bait of the project is the transformation of Neil's 1959 Lincoln Continental Mark IV Convertible into a zero emission eclectic car and it's subsequent cross country road trip.


But what's really going on here is that Young is attempting to breathe life into the languishing electric car movement. On videos and blog postings on the site, Young extols the virtues of plug-in self-charging electric cars (SCEVs) vs. the other "green options" currently being explored. Primarily the ability to develop a car that is large enough to be comfortable, yet is still able to travel long distances without re-fueling. The values section of the Mission Statement puts it this way:

We want to build a zero emissions automobile that eliminates roadside re-fueling entirely, a safe powerful automobile that is comfortable and economic on both long trips and the commute to work, an automobile that can generate power to the home when it is parked, potentially creating an income stream for the owner.

It is essentially the holy grail of green vehicles for this country. A car that is good for the environment yet does not infringe on American driving sensibilities. The site is loaded with great videos of the the build, and will soon allow you to track the road trip. Neil is hardly a silent partner in the project. He contributes articles, files video updates and plans on driving most of the trip. In my mind, this is a perfect example of how artists can cash in on their celebrity to change the world. It should be an interesting project to follow.